Law degree in the dock

A few years ago, the High Court in Johannesburg deputy judge president, Phineas Mojapelo, launched a scathing attack in court on junior lawyers, who he said appeared to be inarticulate, and in many instances innumerate, in cases they were presenting before court on behalf of clients.

Shortly thereafter, the judge president determined that law schools at universities should extend the LLB degree by a further year. Twenty years ago an LLB was a postgraduate degree. Students who wanted to make law their profession had to enrol for either a BA, BCom or BSc degree, and only after graduating could they register for an LLB degree.

Fast-tracking students who wish to become lawyers by eliminating three years of study and simply allowing them to register for LLBs has only served to plague the legal profession with an improvised law degree. They were found wanting and fell short of a full legal education.

Your report earlier in the week is therefore not surprising at all if one takes into account Judge Mojapelo’s complaints (Council lays law down for varsity departments, November 21). The University of Cape Town, specifically, was a top 100 law school. Not any more, not by a long stretch.

Most candidate attorneys today are not ready to enter the legal world. I therefore commend the Council for Higher Education for downgrading several universities’ LLB programmes. Only by implementing stringent rules will the quality of lawyers improve.

Nathan Cheiman Northcliff